Steven Wright’s Top 15 fighters in women’s Kickfighting

There hasn’t been much movement at the top, but the new Best female fighters in Kickfighting list has a lot of the usual suspects and one huge move forward for one of the combatants. Also the list of 15 now includes more 48kg fighters, so Muay Thai writer Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu should approve of the full list this year. As always my list is focused on International resumes.

Honorable mention. In one of the craziest career turn arounds ever, Mellony Geugjes is having a great year and is Krush champion. Not enough to be on the list, but great turnaround. E Meidie is still high, but inactivity against strong opposition has her off the list, but still a mention. Samantha van Doorn is still high, but falls off the list due to her loss to Georgina van Der Linden. Georgina’s win puts her on my radar, but more work to do for the top 15. Laetitia Madjene’s controversial decision over Haddaoui is a start, but as most of her resume is international rules, I will wait until she builds Muay Thai and kickboxing resume before considering her for the list. She has plenty of time to build it.

15. Patricia Axling
This was a tough one for me, because I usual stick to a predominately pro resume. However, many pros compete at IFMA and Axling is beating them. Her victory over Julie Berezikova was one of many that convinced me to add her to the list.

14. Anke van Gestel
Still holding the Enfusion title, Anke is a young fighter, but very much a veteran and her losses are to elite female fighters.

13. Mio Tsumura
The 48kg Shootboxing champ added another international opponent to her resume by beating Hanna Gujwan. MIO has been winning consistently for a while and at only 20yrs old she has a bright future.

12. Loma Lookboonmee
I left Loma off the list last year as she mainly fought in Thailand. However, a solid IFMA resume and a win over Kim Townsend in Australia puts her on my list.

11. Amel Dehby
Despite her Glory tournament finals loss to van Soest, she emerged as one of the better fighters in the world by showing savvy skill and picking up solid wins throughout the year.

10. Phetjee Jaa Meekhun
The youtube sensation, “Girl who beats the boys” has finally made my list. When Phetjee beat Sandra Godvick in June, it was the kind of international win that gets you on my list. Just hitting her mid teens, expect to hear a lot more from Phetjee, in particular if her manager can get her international opportunities.

9. Wang Kehan
She lost a close, extra rd split decision to Haddaoui, but she has returned from injury well and picked up some solid stoppage wins earlier in the year. Kehan has the most KO power of any woman in Muay Thai and kickboxing

8. Antonina Shevchenko
It was heart breaking that she didn’t get to compete for Lion Fight earlier this year, but it appears she is back in September. She is super strong and her clinch and sweep game are tough to beat.

7. Tiffany van Soest
Even though she is also fighting MMA, she will return to kickboxing to fight at Glory Chicago in August. Tiffany is always fun to watch and as the Glory champion, will have many girls gunning for her spot.

6. Anissa Haddaoui
The biggest win of any female fighter this year was the extra round decision victory by Anissa Haddaoui over Wang Kehan. Her moving to 6 is controversial to some as she lost a unfair decision earlier this year, but she has been strong for a while and hadn’t lost before it. Very strong overall resume for Haddaoui

5. Rena Kabuto
The shoot boxing Queen picked up another win for the promotion as she defeated the very talented Jleana Valentino. Rena continues to fight in both MMA and Shootboxing, and big things could be done with her before she considers a UFC contract.

4. Denise Kielholtz
Super skilled Denise is must see TV when she gets her offense going. I am hoping that Bellator kickboxing announces something for her as I would like to see her compete at least three times a year. Denise is great

3. Jorina Baars
Jorina has been undefeated for a long time and is now fighting her native sport of kickboxing more than Muay Thai. She has brought her kickboxing skill to Bellator kickboxing promotion which means we are probably going to see her at least two times a year. I hope we get more.

2. Iman Barlow
Barlow took her winning ways on the road by beating Ashley Nichols in Halifax Canada under the Enfusion promotion. Like Meksen, Barlow is active, fighting almost monthly and winning abroad as well as selling tickets at home. Hopefully another showing on America’s Lion Fight is next

1…Anissa Meksen
Fresh off her Glory Debut win over Jady Menezes, the world Number one female fighter continues to be that. Not only is she keeping a healthy winning streak, but she is also fighting a lot. She continues to compete 8-12 times a year and growing her legend. All roads lead to a possible super fight with Tiffany van Soest in Glory.